Setback Restrictions May Be Eased: Owners of Property Near Ag Land May Be Granted Some Relief.

By Cathy Locke, The Sacramento Bee, Calif.

Mar. 22–Efforts to better balance protection of agricultural operations in El Dorado County with the rights of neighboring property owners received backing from agricultural industry representatives.

The county Agricultural Commission last week endorsed measures that would make it easier for owners of property next to agriculturally zoned land to obtain relief from agricultural setbacks.

A resolution that would modify current administrative relief criteria and procedures will be presented to the Board of Supervisors for action April 10. "This was done to help people who were being impacted by rezoning of land," Valerie Zentner,

executive director of the El Dorado County Farm Bureau, said of the proposed changes.

Because incompatible uses such as houses, decks and swimming pools close to agricultural operations could result in complaints and conflicts that would threaten agricultural activities, the county general plan requires such uses to be set back at least 200 feet from the property line.

Exceptions are allowed in certain circumstances, including cases where enforcing the setback would render the lot unbuildable and where topography or other features provide an adequate barrier between parcels.

County planning staff members said requests to rezone land for agricultural use typically trigger complaints from adjoining property owners who don’t want their parcels to becomesubject to agricultural setbacks. Under the proposed resolution, Agriculture Department staff members would analyze the effect a rezoning would have with regard to potential setbacks on neighboring parcels, said Larry Appel, deputy director for planning. The setbacks do not apply to existing structures, he said.

The proposed changes also would provide more flexibility at the staff level, allowing the agricultural commissioner to approve reduced setbacks in certain cases without taking the request to the Agricultural Commission. In discussing the draft resolution with the Board of Supervisors last month, Agricultural Commissioner Bill Stephans said, "We identified areas that seemed to be no-brainers, where we should probably be able to grant relief rather than collect $250 and take it to the Ag Commission."

Owners of property next to agricultural lands have complained that current standards for administrative relief don’t cover all situations in which setbacks cause undue hardship, or where setbacks could be modified without significantly affecting the adjacent agricultural operation.

Supervisor Jack Sweeney during the February meeting cited two recent cases, one in which a property owner sought to rebuild a house that had burned down, and the other in which a homeowner needed to replace a faulty foundation.

"Those should be unquestionably exempt," Sweeney said, "When a house burns down or a foundation fails, that’s already a traumatic experience."

Under the draft resolution, Stephans said, a property owner could add to, remodel or rebuild an existing or demolished structure that was lawfully placed within the agricultural setback.

In cases where setback reductions were granted, the landowner would have to record a notice of restriction, alerting future buyers of the property to structures within the setback and acknowledging responsibility for any risk associated with proximity to agricultural operations.

Agricultural Commission members said the notice of restriction was critical. Commission Chairman Greg Boeger also said he wanted it made clear that "if there is a setback, it goes on the other land, not the agricultural land."

Some people, however, say making it easier to get administrative relief doesn’t adequately address property rights issues. Supervisor Ron Briggs, who voiced his opposition to the setback requirement in his election campaign last year, argued that the 200-foot agricultural setback amounts to a taking of property.

"We shouldn’t relieve it," Briggs said during the board’s February meeting. "We should eliminate it."

—–

Copyright (c) 2007, The Sacramento Bee, Calif.

Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Business News.

For reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.